Animal House
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: A one-shot on what I think could have happened in the "Riders of Berk" episode, "Animal House." Cover art by the awesome TheLastNightFury.


**So yeah. 'Tis I, BeyondTheClouds777, and I am here bring you "Animal House What If." Most of us know that, in said episode, Hiccup and Astrid were caught in an avalanche with their dragons. Now, I'm not the sharpest spoon in the refrigerator (see what I mean?), but I think an avalanche would cause more damage than just a quick "It's freezing", if you get what I'm saying. Yes, yes, I understand the whole "The dragons saved us!" gimmick and all, and I also understand the fact that it is a kids' TV series and they can't do anything too major to the characters, but really, guys. I don't doubt that the dragons could have saved Hiccup and Astrid, but I do doubt, however, that they could have gotten out of there without even so much as a small scratch. So in this one-shot, I am giving you what I think should have happened. Sorry about the long A/N, I just felt the need to get that out there. Here's my take on a part of "Animal House." I hope you guys like it. :) Enjoy!**

Falling. That was the first thing that Astrid registered. She was falling, screaming, down a crevice, her voice echoing off the walls in a loud, booming noise that rang in her ears even when she stopped screaming. Stormfly and Toothless were roaring, their cries also bouncing off the walls and coming back at them like rubber balls. And then finally, Hiccup, Astrid, Stormfly and Toothless hit the ground, so hard, that Astrid actually blacked out.

…

The very first thing she registered was that it was cold. More than that, though; it was freezing. This was saying something, since Astrid had grown up on Berk, where it snowed and hailed all year long.

She sat up, shivered, and rubbed her arms, trying to find warmth in the ice cold area, and trying to preserve body heat. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, and no matter how hard she tried to stop it, it was an impossible task. Eventually, she just gave up and allowed her teeth to chatter and her body to shake as she glanced around, trying to find some source of light.

The second thing she registered was that it was dark. It was dark. And I don't mean just an average room-without-a-candle darkness. It was so dark, that she couldn't even see her hand when she held it up in front of her face. She stood up, wobbling slightly on her feet, and gazed around. So far, she didn't see even the tiniest little hint of light about the crevice. Something must have blocked any source of light there was.

The third thing she noticed was the fact that she had a terrible headache. She put her hand against her head and groaned slightly, still keeping her other arm pressed against her chest as she fought to keep some heat in her body. She must have hit her head on the way down, she reckoned. There was no other explanation. When she moved her hand to the side of her head, she felt a slightly large, swelling bump. Well, there you go. She hit her head, knocked her unconscious. That was it.

The forth thing she realized with quite some terror was that Hiccup wasn't anywhere to be seen. Her breath hitched as she spun in a circle, this time not looking for light, but looking for Hiccup. She looked around, stumbling around blindly in the darkness in search for her friend.

"Hiccup?" she called, hating the way her chattering teeth and constant shivering made her voice waver and shake. "Hiccup? Where are you?"

Instead of Hiccup, a large _BOOM _sounded, followed shortly by a plasma blast that lit the area faster than a match could be struck against the matchbox. Toothless and Stormfly were standing behind Astrid, Stormfly regarding her rider with a nervous roar. Toothless, however, was sniffing and bounding around the area frantically, looking for any sign of his master.

"Hiccup!" Astrid called, cupping her hands around her mouth. Her voice echoed off the walls of the crevice, coming back maybe slightly louder than she had yelled, but she ignored it. This wasn't any time to be dwelling on the way her echo sounded.

"Where are you!?" she shouted once more. There was no answer; not even slightly. After the echoes finally faded away, it was so quiet that Astrid could hear her own heartbeat pounding against her ears, along with her heavy breathing.

When she finally took a few moments to actually look at her surroundings, she found that all around her were snowdrifts, varying in size, no two the same. She was completely surrounded by ice and snow and cold; she couldn't help but think negatively. If she couldn't find Hiccup already, was he going to freeze to death? Was _she _going to freeze to death? Were they even going to get out?

Where was he, though? Astrid didn't know where to look, until she thought that if she couldn't see him out in the open, he must have been buried underneath some of the snow.

The thought almost terrified her, thinking that he was caught between ice and snow with no way of escaping. Chances were, he would be unconscious as well, which wouldn't help Astrid even slightly. She would have no idea where he was until she found him. And who knew when she would accomplish that?

"Hiccup!" she tried again, garnering the same reaction. Her echo came back at her, almost taunting her, trying to get her to yell louder. After doing so a few more times, shouting Hiccup's name over and over in a rapid session as if she were a broken record, Astrid spun around in a circle once more until her eyes fell back on the two dragons. Stormfly and Toothless were searching some of the snowdrifts, nosing and digging around frantically.

For a few moments, Astrid stared at them, unable to move, her thoughts keeping her frozen in place. Was Hiccup alive at all, even?

As soon as she thought about that, her body clicked back into function. Astrid ran over to one certain snowdrift and started digging, shoving snow and large chunks of ice and rock to the side and brushing powdery snow to the ground next to her. Just when she was about to give up and see if Stormfly and Toothless found anything, her hand brushed up against something. As quickly as she possibly could have gone, her fingers working like mad, she finished uncovering the snow, revealing an unconscious and pale Hiccup from underneath it.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, suddenly even more worried and scared than she had been previously. She pulled him to her, checking for his heartbeat. It was there, but it didn't sound reassuring.

His body was ice cold, and her own was no different. Just as she was about to ask the dragons to start a fire, they beat her to it, wrapping their wings around both youths to shield them from the icy area. Astrid breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," she said. They were the only two words she could have possibly muttered at that point. "Thank you."

The dragons nodded, folding their wings to create a sort of tent around their two masters, keeping them enclosed and warm inside. Astrid pressed Hiccup against her, trying to keep him warm. It wasn't long before Hiccup stirred, his eyes fluttering, a groan escaping his mouth.

He squinted up at the girl, looking both confused and worried. "Astrid?" he said.

Astrid nodded.

"What happened?" he questioned.

"Avalanche," said Astrid. "Are you okay?"

"Got a headache," Hiccup admitted, "but other than that, strangely okay."

"That's good," said Astrid, helping him sit up. "Is your headache bad?"

"Well, yeah, kind of," Hiccup said, wincing as he rubbed his temple. "But I think it's okay. I'll live, you know."

Astrid nodded.

As if on cue, Toothless and Stormfly both lifted their heads, firing up at the ceiling. After two shots, part of the icy roof gave way, letting sunlight pour through.

"Daylight!" Hiccup said.

"We're going to get out of here!" said Astrid. Then she looked to her side, and still saw she was hugging Hiccup. Hiccup noticed at the same time, his eyes widening as he and she both pulled away at the same time, looking down at the floor awkwardly.

"Sooo…we're good now," said Hiccup.

"Uh-huh," said Astrid. "Good-good as new."

After just a moment, she pulled her arm back, and whacked Hiccup's forearm.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

**I know it's short, but I really liked this. I kind of wish something like this happened (It didn't even have to be Hiccup, it could have been Astrid who was buried under the show), because I guess it would have been a bit more realistic, but oh well. I liked the episode, even though they didn't do this. :D Bye! **


End file.
